Of Water, Fire and Self-Respect

Your astrology for 2017 describes a person who is continuing to crack out of your shell. This influences you every way imaginable, though there are a few concentrated areas of growth. One involves becoming more articulate. You seem to be getting underneath some old ideas, and finding your own truth. This, you will both learn and make real by expressing it.

Sign Art by Lizanne E. Webb.

Yet to my eye, the profound underlying theme of your charts involves self-worth. This issue goes by many names, though I consider it one of the most serious problems vexing people in our time of history. Self-esteem, self-respect, self-love, the quest for personhood, developing your human potential: they are all related.

Throughout the Scorpio solar chart, the idea of SELF pushes its way into many facets of your existence. The essence of this message is that you must express your true self in every facet of your being, particularly in the work that you do. The tangible contribution you make to your community and the larger society is your single most dependable way to develop yourself, and to cultivate respect for yourself, and these angles of your chart are coming under strong, creative aspects this year.

Yet at every turn, it’s essential that you keep your focus on the matter of self-respect. It’s not possible to fake this. It’s also not necessary to be all the way there in one go. Self-respect is a process of cultivation. There are many facets, from seeing honestly who you are, and what you contribute, to the willingness and motivation to change what you don’t like about yourself. In this process, one must give up a lot of excuse-making, denial, intentional naiveté and rosy-glasses thinking. It’s necessary not just to stop believing your own press releases, but also to stop sending them out.

Scorpio has a reputation for being one of the leading balls-out, in-your-face signs of the zodiac. Yet there is a potential for self-deception that is just stunning, about such things as whether you’re happy in a relationship, whether you can tell your partner the truth about your feelings, whether you’re happy doing what you’re doing, and how you want to express your creative power.

Often I think of the famous words of Marianne Williamson, who wrote:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I suggest you print and keep these words close to you at all times, because they represent the idea that’s at the heart of the self-respect issue. I’ve pondered many times Williamson’s use of the word “automatically” — that setting yourself free automatically sets others free. It’s not the most poetic choice of words, but I believe she is correct. A person who feels their actual personhood, who respects themselves, and who actually loves themselves, sends a vector of energy through their associations and their community.

Yet that is secondary to something more important: you learning to live in harmony with the truth of who you are, what you feel and what you want. You are too powerful to be out of harmony with yourself, and to project that disharmony to your outer environment.

There is a deep responsibility you owe yourself, and one you must learn to remember all the time. The lesson may seem hard at first, but you will learn to love it when you realize that it is true and is but a tribute to your power. You who have sought and found littleness, remember this: Every decision you make stems from what you think you are, and represents the value that you put upon yourself. Believe the little can content you, and by limiting yourself you will not be satisfied. For your function is not little, and it is only by finding your function and fulfilling it that you can escape from littleness.

The Confusion of Narcissism, Vanity and Self-Love

We live in a society that pumps up the notion of self. Yet this is often based in ego and glamour. It has nothing to do with actual love of, and respect of, who one is.

As Bob Dylan wrote many years ago:

Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you

Bringing up the theme of self-love often pricks the fear of being seen as narcissistic or vain. The latter two emotions have no part in self-love. Self-love is not about what a wonderful person everyone sees you as being. Rather, it’s a quiet, inwardly aware state that is inherently respectful of who you are, of your gifts, your fragility, your desire to live, your mortality. Your self-respect embraces the lives of others, and offers support to the people around you.

Narcissism and vanity are about making oneself seem better than others. They are the opposite value. They specifically lack connection, or substance, or any actual love for anyone or anything. Vanity is born out of hating oneself. Narcissism is the idea that nobody else exists.

You must seek to be the center of your own life, which you can then extend lovingly to the world around you.

Eyes on Saturn, Sagittarius and the Galactic Core

During the past two years, there has been unusual movement between the signs Scorpio and Sagittarius. You can think of Sagittarius as a direct extension of you and whatever Scorpio represents about you. That is to say, when you think of yourself ‘as a Scorpio’, whatever that means, descriptions of the sign Sagittarius will help you see how you express that in the world. When you feel like you transcend yourself and touch your highest potential, you’re often doing that in the style of Sagittarius: generous, optimistic and less encumbered by emotional attachment.

Sagittarius is your 2nd solar house (or 2nd by whole signs for Scorpio rising), which represents self-esteem, your values, and your available resources. You could not want a better sign on your 2nd house.

Sagittarius has it all. It is ruled by Jupiter (coming to your sign later this year, and providing you with many expanded opportunities to express yourself). It’s the home of the core of our galaxy and the center of our local universe, the Great Attractor. Sagittarius on the 2nd says that you have resources. And most of them are spiritual resources, meaning that they are unlimited, and that they are activated by your investment in love.

This is in many ways antithetical to the basic facts about Scorpio; for example, that self-centered Mars is the classical ruler of your sign, or that Aries, the sign of self, is associated with your 6th house of service to others. Mars gives you drive and motivation, and you get to direct that any way you choose. Aries on the 6th is saying that you must actually be yourself in order to be of any help to others.

Currently, Saturn is in Sagittarius. It spent 2015 transitioning back and forth between your sign and Sagittarius, and since that time has been pushing the issue of self-respect. With Saturn, you may feel a lack and then realize you must fill that with something. Saturn will also help strip away any delusions you have. It’s sending you the message that you must do some serious inner work to establish a trustworthy foundation of self-esteem.

One thing that gets in your way is certain shadow elements of your personality. You are keenly aware that you have them, and yet what to do about them is not obvious. You will be getting plenty of information in the coming seasons about that, if you’re willing to listen. Perhaps the primary transit is that Saturn is going to spend most of the year conjunct the Galactic Core. This is saying that while spirituality is natural and organic, for it to have meaning in the world takes time and discipline.

Where Saturn shows up in one’s chart, there is a focus on business. By business I mean what you do with your precious time, creativity and energy. I also mean the business that you’re in. You know you’re doing the work of Saturn when you love going to work. Do you? Do you have a total investment in what you do, because you relate to its meaning? Sagittarius, which represents your values, demands that you live in a meaningful and relevant way.

If you are bored at work, if you are concerned that you’re devoting your energy to something you don’t agree with, if you’re in a position where you must deceive others to make a living — and you’re aware of these things — then it’s time to raise the level of your existence to where you feel that you’re ethically aligned with your own choices and actions.

I would propose that being aligned in this way is a foundation of true self-esteem. This is about your life having actual meaning. It’s easy for you to have theoretical meaning; Sagittarius is great at that. But actual meaning? That comes from sustained action and investment in yourself.

Saturn and Sagittarius are a tense mix, though Saturn will push these issues until it gets your attention. Saturn is a constant reminder that you must work for what you want to be. It’s not enough to make a resolution or a promise to yourself. Any promise must be backed up by daily activity, which is the statement of your commitment to yourself — and the building of your spiritual muscles.

Allow Saturn to strip away all of the values lurking around that are not truly your own. You must be especially conscious and careful about maintaining appearances, or any inclination to do so. Let nothing be about the appearance; focus on the reality. We live in a time when there’s lots of talk about integrity, though what I’ve seen over and over again is how this is more about having the image of integrity.

You will get plenty of this in the coming year or two, because it’s not just Saturn that is going over the Galactic Core and activating his distinct spiritual process for you. The current era is on par with what was going on between 2006 and 2008, when Pluto crossed over the Galactic Core and came with a great wave of inner awakening.

These transits over the Core all involve the psychological process of integrating shadow material. Shadow material is the emotions that we don’t like or want to deal with. These are rooted in past conditioning, unresolved pain, and what’s been passed down through the generations. Here’s a basic inventory of some of the material you might be working with, described by the name of the transit. These all involve a minor planet going over the Galactic Core, which is like a spiritual fire you can use for catharsis and transformation. All of this relates to your self-esteem and sense of purpose.

Pholus Conjunct the Galactic Core. In essence, this is about self-control. It’s also about fully embracing the fact that your actions have consequences beyond what you usually perceive. And finally, it’s an opportunity to stop living out the problems of your ancestors (particularly your grandparents and great-grandparents).

Self-control applies to any potentially self-destructive behavior, including alcohol, and the influence of alcoholics on your life. The consequences-of-your-actions issue involves noticing the way that what you do can ripple out far into the community and have effects you don’t perceive. The positive side of this is that your life-affirming choices will also become a vector. Pholus tends to magnify one’s actions; it’s the “small cause with a big effect,” and this you must be mindful of at all times.

Finally, there’s the ancestor issue. Most of our problems are actually not our own. Again and again, we are confronted with what our ancestors did not deal with. Pholus is a centaur planet that points directly to the matter of this ancestral material. There are many ways to work with this, though the most significant thing is to be aware of when you’re confronted by a problem that is not really your own. You might recognize this because you’re responding in ways that don’t actually reflect your values, you’re experiencing fear or guilt that is not justified by your circumstances, or you go into auto mode akin to an emotional gag reflex.

Eros and Ixion Conjunct the Galactic Core. This is about being more humane in your relationships. Eros + Ixion says that all is fair in love and war. Ixion can represent sexual aggression, transgression of boundaries, suspension of ethics, and acting in a way that people don’t matter. You might feel these tendencies slip into your own thoughts and conduct; you might notice that other people treat you this way and you don’t know how to stop it. This calls for high awareness. It’s also about understanding your value to the degree where you can embody the idea that you and/or the people you love deserve better.

Cupido and Quaoar Conjunct the Galactic Core. You must gather with people who share common values with you. You can no longer afford to invest your precious time and psychic energy with people who do not embody the highest vibration of what you desire, and know to be true. You will feel better about yourself when you can speak openly about what you value the most, and spend time with those who share your spiritual goals and your purpose for living.

This is not so much about an exact topical match (we all play tennis) as it is about reaching the deeper layer of truth and relating to others from there (we value being a good sport, regardless of the game). This is particularly true of people you choose as sexual partners.

Another idea that seems to come from the direction of Marianne Williamson (according to Melanie Reinhart) is how we tend to become like the people we have sex with. I suggest you only choose as sexual partners those you honestly admire. Once you set this standard, you will become more conscious of the energy transfer value of sex.

The Mysteries of Life, Death and Change

I consider Scorpio to be one of the most challenging signs to incarnate as. This is because Scorpio serves as the raw nerve of the zodiac associated with the mysteries of life and death. You simply cannot escape confrontation with these elemental facts of life. It seems worth taking a few minutes to share with you some information from the Scorpio Files. This next section is mostly background, which we’ll build on later in this reading.

The human form is recorded into a natural chemical called DNA. Each molecule of DNA, in theory, contains enough information to clone the individual host and, by extension, the human race. This “recording of the data of life” is one of the core concepts of your sign.

Long before the existence of DNA was common knowledge even to scientists, occultist Aleister Crowley was busy designing a tarot deck with a painter, Lady Frieda Harris. Between 1938 and 1943, Harris and Crowley came up with as many as five paintings per tarot card, ultimately selecting one of each and assembling them as a deck. Both artists died before the deck was finally published in the rather eventful year 1969, 26 years after its completion.

One of the most interesting features of what was named the Thoth Tarot is the Scorpio card. This is Atu (key, or major arcana card) XIII or Death. It’s unlike any other death card I’ve ever seen. The main image is a black skeleton, awake and alert, holding a scythe, the tool of the grim reaper. The skeleton seems to be enmeshed in spiral strands that look like puppet strings, and which reach to the upper right corner of the card. Woven into the spirals are what look like fetuses or ghosts. Those represent entities from our genetic past. We are them and they are us.

It was not until 1953 that a scientist named Francis Crick made the first accurate sketch of the famous mirroring spirals of the DNA molecule, an understanding of the structure that is still accepted today. Harris and Crowley had come startlingly close to the accurate model a decade earlier.

So what is DNA doing in the Death card? And what’s the whole death thing with Scorpio? And what has that got to do with the association of Scorpio and sex? The connection is the theme of your sign: the mysteries of life and death. The presence of DNA immediately implies sex, because DNA is the very substance of sexual reproduction. Let’s consider a couple of other symbols in the card.

One detail is that the skeleton is black. When you’re looking at an image and something is drawn the opposite of its usual color, the artist is telling you to pay attention. Most skeletons you see, the dead kind, are white. A black skeleton is sending the opposite message, of life and of existence. So we know that the card called “death” is really about life. And life is conveyed through sexual communion.

The skeleton is wearing the cap of invisibility, famously worn by the Roman god Pluto, who would kidnap his victims to the underworld. The approach of death is often invisible, and we live with it constantly. You know this more than most people. The planet bearing that name was discovered in 1930, and again Crowley was way ahead of the pack on understanding what it was about. (He comments on Pluto intelligently in The Book of Thoth, published in 1944, which I consider the best book on the tarot. The first astrology book written in English about Pluto was not published until the mid-1980s.)

There are many critters included in the card: an eagle, a fish, a snake and, of course, a scorpion. This corresponds with the many symbols used to describe Scorpio, a sign that seems to shape-shift and to be laced with contradictions or at least contrasts.

For example, Scorpio is a fixed sign, though it’s also a water sign. Water is supposed to flow. Fixed water could be ice; it could be a stagnant pond; it could be fossilized, mineral-rich seawater held deep beneath the ground. It could represent the subservience of all life to water. It could represent the extreme persistence of water over all other elements.

Scorpio is a water sign, and in classical astrology it’s ruled by a fiery planet, Mars. Scorpio is a feminine sign (all the earthy and watery signs are), though it’s ruled by a planet associated with maleness. (The Mars glyph is a representation of testicles and an erect penis, and the Scorpio glyph also has a similar upward-facing arrow.) Scorpio would seem to represent a tense fusion of male and female qualities, and to insist that you express both consciously, and that they condition one another.

It’s evident after studying astrology for a while that Scorpio is the most complex sign. It addresses deeply personal, controversial and taboo matters that humans must face and often avoid: sexuality and death. It embraces the idea that growth is a series of death-like events (sometimes known as ego deaths) through which the psyche emerges as itself. Hence, it covers the theme of what is commonly called death and transformation.

Mars and Scorpio also address desire, in particular sexual desire, which thanks to religion is falsely held as one of the most controversial themes on Earth. Mars through the field of Scorpio represents the deepest and most elemental level of desire. This is not the impulse of Mars as a feature of Aries (its other sign of rulership); it’s not the strategic thinking of Mars as a creature of Capricorn (where it’s exalted). Desire for you is emotional, and the depths of your feelings and your desires can indeed shock you — and others you relate to. That’s why you often keep your secrets, and why it’s essential that you open up and share who you are. It’s the concealment factor that will grind on your self-respect; after all there must be a reason you cannot say anything.

You don’t really need to read about it in an astrology book, though it does help to have confirmation and some ideas for how to handle these deep themes that you embody, and the unstoppable, inevitable quality of energy that characterizes you.

On the subject of revealing secrets: Pluto is currently in your 3rd house of communication, correspondence and community. You are experiencing a profound drive to express the truth of who you are. This is a long, sustained and very potent invitation to come out and stay out. Focus your words and speak your truth: the Scorpionic truth of who you are and what you know from your cells.

Mars Retrograde: Tantric Initiation

I’ve mentioned that Mars and its natural desires are considered controversial and that they were made that way by religion. Tantra is an ancient school of thought that teaches sexuality is inherently spiritual and that what we think of as god or goddess is inherently sexual. This is controversial in a world that puts ‘spiritual’ and ‘sexual’ in mutually exclusive categories, though it’s a ridiculous controversy. In the Bible, god is given credit for creating people. In reality, people are created because their parents fucked. Sex is the gateway to all existence.

Last year’s Mars retrograde is considered long gone by most astrologers; as something in the past, it’s not considered relevant. I take a different view. I consider this particular Mars retrograde to be a kind of standing wave form, a semi-permanent chart feature representing an ongoing exploration that is mirrored later this year by Venus retrograde. Let’s review the first, and introduce the second. There is more available in Vision Quest, the 2016 reading for Scorpio.

The two signs involved, Scorpio (your 1st house) and Sagittarius (your 2nd house), represent what are typically held to be mutually exclusive values in society: sex and religion. Mars retrograde in your chart seeded one with the other, helping resolve a contradiction that is dangerous for society and even more so personally for you.

I am reading this as a form of tantric initiation: that is, the discovery of the inherently spiritual nature of sex, and of the sexual nature of the cosmos. The seeds associated with this transit were only recently planted, and are still growing. Pay attention to who and what was happening around the time of Mars retrograde, and recall what you were learning at that time. The process is still nascent and alive.

The self-esteem theme here, described by the union of your 1st and 2nd houses, is the claiming back of your natural desire as a birthright. If you are in doubt about what you want, or if you consider it a potential moral affront, it’s difficult to feel good about yourself. For you, taking possession of desire is integral to your respect of yourself. The taking away of desire is one of the best ways to crush and control a person, particularly as a child.

What you must remember is that Mars, the planet of desire, resonates on the emotional and female-body level when in or associated with Scorpio. Mars is an inherently masculine planet, and Scorpio is an inherently feminine sign. It’s not easy to work this seeming paradox gracefully, though to do so you must embody both the masculine and feminine sides of your nature. Conflict between them erodes your confidence. Harmony between them will magnify your influence and ability to experience life fully. Many Scorpios struggle to bring out the feminine side of their nature (Venus retrograde will help that).

Whether you’re a man or a woman, you experience desire differently from your peers. This both makes them nervous and makes you intriguing to them. Everyone has a response to the word ‘Scorpio’ and you can be sure that much of it involves desire, fascination or fear with what you’re perceived to know.

Events surrounding this transit took you through a direct transition of some kind, which you’re still integrating. You contain this process; it’s not over. You are its incubator. The more you raise it to full consciousness, inwardly and in your relationships, the stronger and more grounded you will be. Indeed, raising consciousness is what this journey is about.

You are past the time when the puritanical, patriarchal (pseudo-spiritual) teachings that mock the beauty of Sagittarius can go unquestioned, which means questioning what these teachings lead to. It’s time to see religion for what it is, and the natural cosmos for the beauty that’s offered to you. You are past the time when society’s base ideas about sex can go unquestioned. This includes the many taken-for-granted forms of relationships that are based on some form of property rights, which tend to involve women’s bodies and men’s financial assets.

On the most basic emotional level, what we’re talking about is resolving religiously induced sexual guilt. This is both a process and a prime directive for you, if you want to live in your most natural, loving and creative state. Now, by resolving, I don’t mean ‘getting over’ whatever is involved; I mean embarking on a conscious journey to unravel what you’re healing, to see yourself clearly, and to be real with others about who you are.

Venus Retrograde: A Partner Leads the Way

In 2017 there is a counterpart to last year’s Mars retrograde: Venus will be retrograde in Aries and in Pisces. One similarity is the connection between fire and water. Another is that Venus is a planet that describes an equivalent kind of desire as Mars, only it’s the attractive force rather than the assertive one.

Venus is the planet associated with your opposite sign Taurus, meaning that it’s the primary significator for relationship partners. It’s also the planet associated with Libra, a profoundly important sign for you because it represents your 12th house — your most hidden world, your innermost secrets, your fantasies and your unspoken ideas about relationships. Venus therefore has a deeply meaningful double signification: that which is out in the open (the relationships that you announce to the world), and that which is concealed (all the contents of your 12th house).

Venus retrograde would seem to be about an attempt to reconcile these two potentially conflicting worldviews, and bring them into alignment. It’s also about the changes that a partner is going through. You will need to be patient with this process, and recognize the actual challenge that many people have with being sincere, orienting themselves, or knowing what they feel.

As of this writing in early January, Venus is working its way through early Pisces. On Jan. 25, Venus makes a conjunction to Chiron in Pisces, which begins the Venus retrograde process: on that day, Venus enters the degrees where the retrograde will happen. On Feb. 3, Venus ingresses Aries (and is conjunct the Aries Point, at one of the most potent times of year — the Sun at the midpoint of Aquarius). On March 5, Venus stations retrograde. On April 3, Venus re-enters Pisces. On April 15, Venus stations direct — in an exact conjunction with Chiron.

Those are the basic facts, which describe a genuinely interesting retrograde. The process takes Venus back and forth between Aries and Pisces, and involves two conjunctions to Chiron: one that serves as an initiation, and the second as a completion. The two signs involved are profoundly different energy fields for Venus, and will bring out many distinct sides of her nature.

The repeated contact with Chiron says that the theme of this whole experience is erotic healing. This works well for you because Pisces is your 5th house of sexuality and Aries is your 6th house of healing. So this is as much about you as it is about a partner, though it would seem that a partner is going through some profound inner shift, which serves the purpose of leading the way — if you’re willing to notice their evolutionary process, support him or her, and have your own experience as well.

Venus in Pisces is one of the most graceful and exalted positions for this planet. The conjunction to Chiron pierces deep into Venus and infuses it with the cosmic erotic quality of Pisces. This is Venus at its most feminine, and most sensitive.

And then what ensues are a series of contrasts wherein Venus takes her many forms. You’re going to experience a partner, and/or love interests, go through a series of transformations. This also counts for your concept of relationship.

With Venus in Pisces, we are in the realm of real feelings. The scenario involves some deep reassessment, signified by the first conjunction to Chiron. Perhaps Venus in Pisces is being guided to reassess its ambivalence about something, and to acknowledge its actual feelings. Where there are going to be multiple contacts with Chiron, it’s helpful to get the message the first time: to take notice of whatever feelings are associated with the event. This, you will know by what emerges at the time. There’s a phase of forward motion, and then when the retrograde begins, an inward turning and a review.

With Venus in Aries, the question is one of identity, and of image. Venus in Aries under most circumstances is overly concerned with appearances, and can be obsessed with glamour and personal power, and enamored of its influence. In any event there is some profound learning about sensitivity when Venus is in Aries. The whole lesson seems to be about empathy, and that’s the way Venus is headed: back to Pisces, about to re-connect with Chiron.

Simply put, this retrograde is saying it’s time to get past self-image, self-concept and what one projects onto others; and in the alternate, make some peace with how you really feel beneath the surface tension of appearances. The reason that staying superficial is so popular is because it negates feeling. Yet every facet of your astrology is saying that it’s essential to go deep — and that depth is an essential element in feeling good about who you are, and discovering who you are.

There will be interesting parallels between what a partner or love interest is going through, and your concept of what a relationship is. You will be taken deeper, and you will need to make contact with a new level of vulnerability.

One element in the station-direct chart on April 15 is a double emphasis on Chiron: Mercury (at the time retrograde) will be in the Chiron discovery degree, as Venus is conjunct Chiron itself. The conjunction of Mercury to the Chiron discovery degree (a kind of permanent Chiron placement in the sky, located in Taurus) is saying: let your body speak. Listen to your body; trust your body; more than anything, inhabit your body, and then give it a voice.

There is plenty else in your chart saying: focus your voice. Say what you mean, mean what you say, and keep the physical connection to your truth. In other words, the truth is when your mind and your body agree on something. Settle for no less.

Service and Equality, Work and Reputation

The two houses in your chart involving work are both covered by fire signs. This suggests that you really strive to find yourself in the work that you do. Scorpio is famous for its obsession with sex and relationships, though there’s much more to the picture. Your worldly identity is grounded in your work, and these houses are alive these days.

There are two primary houses involved — your 6th (Aries, day-to-day work and service) and your 10th (Leo, your reputation and long-range career). Let’s take them one at a time, and then link the two.

Aries on the 6th suggests that you must fully invest your identity in what you’re the best at. You cannot be someone other than yourself at work. You cannot do what you don’t really value. And you need a work situation that allows you actual independence.

This has been ramping up over the past six years that Uranus has been in your 6th house. There is real restlessness with Uranus in Aries. You cannot deny this; you must make it work for you. It would also seem that you’re in the process of radically redefining the work that you do, which I suggest be based on your concept of service. You cannot inadvertently ‘do good’, or make up for working at a nuclear power plant with charitable contributions. You must be what you make, and mean what you make down to your bones.

To do this really calls upon being inventive: self-inventive, creative, daring and collaborative. With Aries in this house, learning to share responsibility and credit is essential, particularly with Uranus (a planet that describes group experiences) right there.

The 10th house has similar themes, though it’s more public, and necessitates a long-range vision. You have Leo on this house. The question of reputation is involved. Leo, sometimes thought of as a showy planet, is more centered on service than it may seem. The Sun, the ruler of Leo, is at the center of the solar system — and it must hold all the other planets in orbit. Yet despite this, you must meet people on level ground.

For the first time since its discovery, Varuna (an object orbiting a bit further out than Pluto) is changing signs, transiting this year from Cancer to Leo. Varuna is the equality principle (meaning that it tends to level the ground between you and others); and from mythology, it is the enforcer of agreements. Consider how these concepts would help you in your professional life, especially where you don’t feel like you stack up to the talent of others.

You must be good for your promises. You might, at this time, make a list of all your unfulfilled commitments, people to whom you owe favors or money or a pound of butter, and begin to repay them in earnest. Take your own initiative and this will be easier. Do not wait to be asked.

If you have been given advantages in life, do your part to pass them forward. Make opportunities available to young people.

You will succeed to the degree that you connect with the truth that people are people, and that we are all fundamentally equal. However, this also contains the idea that you must take full ownership of feelings, issues and tasks that really are yours, and that you become impeccable about owning all that you know is your responsibility.

You have a regal quality about you when you strive to succeed, and the thing to remember, ever and anon, is noblesse oblige. You who are bestowed with talent, and a touch of greatness, do indeed owe the world your worthy service. That’s the small price you pay for your very great gifts.